Has anyone else seen this? I have a robin who this winter regularly flies up to my hanging feeder(s) with suet pellets or sunflower hearts and then hoovers or rests one claw briefly on the wire loop before taking some food and flying off to eat it? Previously I've only seen them feeding off ground trays or bird tables. I haven't yet been able to photograph this.
Yes Jane I have had one like that.
john.
Hi Jane
One of my robins can feed from hanging feeders. He doesn't always do it, and as the second photo shows, he isn't always perfect, but he can do it if he wants to. This feeder is called Onyx from Jacobi Jayne, and it doesn't have straight rod perches. There are several feeders available with similar perches that help less dexterous birds like robins and chaffinches :
He likes suet cakes too.:
Best wishes Chris
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Hello Jane
Robins may not be entirely comfortable coming to feeders but they adapt quite well when there's easy food on offer. As others have said I get them coming to seed feeders and fat blocks and clinging on for a short period whilst grabbing a morsel. I've even had them doing aerobatics to get at the goodies.
TJ
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Tony
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thats a nice picture, robins frequently fly up to my fat ball feeder to peck a bit from the fat ball that was untill i slotted a twig from a tree cut to appropriate length and secured with plastic coated wire the type you get with radio controlled toys. and all the robin has to do is fly to the twig perch and move closer to the bottom fatball and thats one happy robin, even jackdaws have got in on the act including a mistle thrush.
Our robins love eating fron the feeders & have been know to perch quite happily for long periods of time. I think it's a bit of a myth that they "can't" do this. It's adapt or die isn't it ? The robins that can't do it don't get as much food so are probably going to die off quicker. The ones that can hang around longer, breed & visit our gardens a lot so we now see robins that can more often than robins that can't. Maybe when people first started using hanging feeders the robins did not adapt to them as quickly as other birds but they have now !
Yep, my Robin does the smash and grab on ours too.
Must admit, saw something funny last week. I had taken the feeding tray of the feeding station to give it a clean. A nuthatch landed on the bit the tray usually sits on (it was the water tray for those of you who have the same kind of feeder as me), it did a perfect 360 loop, as the metal was clearly to slippery. If a nuthatch could look astonished, this one did! A gymnast would have been proud!
Ant
"IT IS SAID THAT LIFE FLASHES BEFORE YOUR EYES BEFORE YOU DIE. THAT IS TRUE, IT'S CALLED LIVING."Death - Terry Pratchett (The Last Continent).
Jane i also have 2 robins that have learnt to use my feeders, sometimes they are both on together, i
also noticed over the last week that they stay on longer and longer ---- practice makes perfect eh !!!!!!
Sometimes in the wind of change we find our true direction (unknown)
Thnaks everyone for your comments, and the photos are really great too. I already have a several different sorts of hanging feeders but will look out for one with longer posts now! It just proves how adaptable wildlife is!!
Yes I was told they couldn't do this but our male does it regularly now after the seeds and the fat balls... clever little fellow he is !
Yeah I haven't managed a photo yet either !!
Striving to be a better Photographer whilst looking after two young children... :0/
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Yes. I've only got one robin this winter and he mainly feeds off the table but I have seen him several times feeding off the fat feeder.
Cheer up, they said. Things could get worse. So I cheered up and, sure enough, things got worse.